بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ
إِذا جاءَكَ المُنافِقونَ قالوا نَشهَدُ إِنَّكَ لَرَسولُ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ يَعلَمُ إِنَّكَ لَرَسولُهُ وَاللَّهُ يَشهَدُ إِنَّ المُنافِقينَ لَكاذِبونَ
When the hypocrites come to you they say: ‘We bear witness that you are indeed the apostle of Allah.’ Allah knows that you are indeed His Apostle, and Allah bears witness that the hypocrites are indeed liars.
EXEGESIS
The word munāfiq is an active participle of the infinitive noun nifāq, which means hypocrisy. Nifāq derives from the word nafaq, meaning an underground tunnel which has two exits, thus referring to the two-facedness of a hypocrite. Nafaq in this meaning has appeared in 6:35. However, some lexicologists maintain that a two-faced person is called munāfiq due to his likeness to a jerboa, whose location of escape is unknown at times of danger. The jerboa’s burrow is said to have two exits: one that is known and is called qāṣiʿāʾ, and a hidden exit called nāfiqāʾ, which allows it to quickly escape predators. Thus nifāq reflects the nature of hypocrites who at certain times side with religion and at other times come out of it, depending on where their interests are best served.
Accordingly, a munāfiq is a person who has a dichotomised personality; a disguised personality which is exhibited before the Muslims in which he apparently shows his commitment towards Islamic beliefs, morals, and laws, and a true personality which is hidden from the eyes of the people and is devoid of any commitment to Islam and its teachings: When they meet the faithful, they say: ‘We believe,’ but when they are alone with their devils, they say: ‘We are with you; we were only deriding [them]’ (2:14).
EXPOSITION
The surah commences with rejecting the testimony of the hypocrites with regard to the apostleship of the Holy Prophet. The verse does not deny the fact that the Holy Prophet is the Messenger of God; rather, it rejects the testimony of the hypocrites in the sense that they deceptively say that in which they do not have faith.
The truth and falsity of a proposition is rationally examined by its correspondence to reality. However, sometimes the content of the statement is cross-examined with the correspondent external reality, and in this case the truth and falsity is attributed to the proposition itself. For instance, ‘today is sunny’ is a statement whose truth would depend on its correspondence to the external reality, and accordingly it would either be judged as true or false. Technically, this is known as the propositional truth or falsity (al-ṣidq wa al-kidhb al-khabarī).
At times, the belief of the utterer of a proposition is weighed against the content of the supposed true proposition; that is, whether or not the utterer really has faith in the content of the statement he has made. For example, to judge whether the statement ‘Amīn is my beloved friend’ is truthful or not would depend upon the belief of the utterer in the content of the statement. In technical terms, this is referred to as subjective truth or falsity (al-ṣidq wa al-kidhb al-mukhbirī).
Therefore, the Holy Quran does not negate the propositional truth of the statement you are indeed the apostle of Allah, but rather what it denies is the subjective truth of the statement. This point is clearly deduced from the phrase, Allah knows that you are indeed His Apostle.
The verse also alludes to the fact that the criterion of true faith is not the speech of a person, but rather what his heart has believed in. The reality of faith is not material, and therefore it is beyond any measure of physical testing; rather, its reality is metaphysical in nature and related to the human soul.
Pronouncing the shahādatayn – the two testimonies of faith – only qualifies a person to enter into the general sphere of religion which, in Quranic terms, can be referred to as islām (submission). However, there is a specific and deeper sphere of religion which is that of īmān (faith), entry to which depends on the degree to which the human soul has embraced the divine message in belief and emotions, and abides by it in practice.
This is well reflected in 49:14 which instructs the Holy Prophet to declare to those who would come to him and claim to have faith (īmān): Say: ‘You do not have faith yet; rather say: “We have embraced Islam,” for faith has not yet entered into your hearts.’
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
There is almost consensus among the exegetes that this surah was revealed after the Battle of Muraysīʿ or the battle with Banī al-Muṣṭaliq in 5 AH. The Muslims had won the battle and had acquired huge amounts of war booty.
Exegetes hold that the surah was revealed as a result of the words uttered by ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Ubayy – the leader of the hypocrites in Medina – who said: ‘When we return to the city, the mighty will surely expel the abased from it,’ as exactly quoted by the Quran in this surah. However, there are some minor differences in the narration of the event that led to the revelation of the surah. The account of the event as reported in Tafsīr al-Qummī is as follows:
‘On the return journey to Medina, the Muslims halted at a place where there was little water. There happened a quarrel between Anas ibn Sayyār, an ally of the Anṣār, and Jahjāh ibn Saʿīd al-Ghifārī, a servant of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, as they drew water from the well. The bucket of Sayyār got stuck to that of Jahjāh and each of them claimed that the filled bucket was his. As a result, Jahjāh hit Sayyār on the face and caused him to bleed. Sayyār called upon the Khazraj for help, and Jahjāh called upon the Quraysh. The debate heated up and both sides unsheathed their swords and a serious dissension was about to take place. ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Ubayy – the chief of the hypocrites – happened to be at the site and inquired about the matter. When he was informed of the issue, he became furious and said: “I was displeased with this journey right from the beginning; I am the most humiliated of the Arabs! I did not expect to remain alive to witness such a situation and to not have any solution for it!” He then turned towards the Anṣār and addressed them, saying: “You have done this; you gave them [i.e. the Muhājirūn] shelter in your homes, shared with them your wealth, protected them at the cost of your own lives, put your necks on the line such that your wives were widowed and your children orphaned. Had you driven them out of the city they would have become a burden on other people [instead of on you].” Thereafter he said: “When we return to the city, the mighty will surely expel the abased from it.” Zayd ibn Arqam, who was a young lad at that time, happened to be present at the site and heard the conversation. He reported the event to the Holy Prophet (s) who was sitting with some members of the Muhājirūn and Anṣār under the shade of a tree. The Prophet (s) replied: “Maybe you speculate him to have said so.” Zayd answered: “By Allah, it is not a speculation.” The Prophet (s) said: “Maybe you are angry with him [and thus attribute these words to him].” He responded: “Nay, by Allah, I am not angry with him.” The Holy Prophet (s) told him: “Perhaps you are confused [and hence you utter these words].” He replied: “Nay, by Allah.” So the Messenger of Allah (s) instructed his bondsman Shiqrān to prepare his mount for him. The news spread and the people remarked that the Prophet (s) would not normally make a move at such a time of the day. Thus he started moving and the Muslims followed him. Saʿd ibn ʿUbādah approached him and said: “Peace, mercy, and the blessings of God be upon you, O Messenger of God!” “And may peace be upon you as well,” answered the Prophet (s). “You have never been seen to make a move at such a time of the day,” remarked Saʿd. The Prophet (s) replied: “Have you not heard the word that has been said by your friend?!” Saʿd said: “What other friend do we have beside you, O Prophet of God?” The Holy Prophet (s) answered: “ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Ubayy is claiming that upon returning to Medina, the mighty will surely expel the abased from it.” “O Messenger of God! You and your companions are the mighty, and he and his followers are the abased,” said Saʿd. Thereafter, the Prophet (s) journeyed the whole day and night, without speaking to anyone, and he would only halt for prayers. Members of the Khazraj went to ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Ubayy and censured him, but he swore that he has not said that. They asked him to go with them to see the Prophet (s) and apologise to him collectively, but he shook his head. The next morning, as they halted, ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Ubayy came to the Prophet (s) and swore that he did not say what has been attributed to him, and that he testifies that there is no god but God and he [Muhammad] is the Messenger of God, and that Zayd has fabricated this lie against him. The Holy Prophet (s) kindly accepted that from him and did not say anything. The members of the tribe of Khazraj approached Zayd ibn Arqam and reprimanded him over concocting a lie against their leader, ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Ubayy. As the Prophet (s) started advancing, Zayd was with him and he whispered: “O God, indeed You are aware that I have not fabricated this lie against ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Ubayy.” After a short while, the Prophet of God (s) was seen experiencing the heaviness and intensity of revelation such that the animal he had mounted began to bend and almost touched the ground due to the heaviness of the revelation. As the revelation came to an end, he was seen wiping his forehead of sweat. He then took hold of the ear of Zayd ibn Arqam, lifting him from the saddle, and told him: “You said the truth and your heart rightly retained [what it heard], as God has revealed to me of the Quran in relation to what you informed me about.” When he halted at the next station, he gathered the Muslims and recited to them Sūrat al-Munāfiqūn, from In the name of Allah, the all-beneficent, the all-merciful. When the hypocrites come to you they say: ‘We bear witness that you are indeed the apostle of Allah’, up to but the hypocrites do not know. The verses exposed the identity of ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Ubayy and embarrassed him.’
This report suggests that all the eight verses related to the incident were revealed to the Holy Prophet at once. However, other reports cited by some exegetes indicate that these verses were revealed in two stages: verses 1-4 and verses 5-8. Thus the last three verses of the surah seem to have been revealed in the second stage, together with the last four verses related to the incident.
With regard to the statement of the hypocrites, Do not spend on those who are with the Apostle of Allah until they scatter off as quoted in the surah, all the major Sunni commentaries maintain that this statement was also made by ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Ubayy in the same event which led to the revelation of the surah, whereas it has not been attributed to him in the Shia works of exegesis.
[1] Lisan, under n-f-q.
[2] Mizan, 19/279; see also Razi, 30/545.
[3] Qaraati, 10/52.
[4] Ibn Abī Ḥātim holds that this surah was revealed during the expedition of Tabūk. However, this view cannot be correct as according to historical reports ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Ubayy was not present in that expedition (Ibn Kathir, 8/152).
[5] Jaʿfar Sharaf al-Dīn, al-Mawsūʿat al-Qurʾāniyyah: Khaṣāʾiṣ al-Suwar (Beirut: Dār al-Taqrīb bayn al-Madhāhib al-Islāmiyyah, 2000), 9/272.
[6] According to some other narrations, he also said: ‘Indeed our likeness to them is just as similar to what has been said: sammin kalbaka, yaʾkulka – that is, [lit.] “Fatten your dog so that he may eat you [in return].”’ See Tabrisi, 10/442; Mizan, 19/283; Tabari, 28/73; Alusi, 5/327.
[7] Verse 8 of this surah.
[8] Qummi, 2/368-370.
[9] Tabrisi, 10/444; Suyuti, 6/224.
[10] See Tabari, 28/70; Ibn Abi Hatim, 10/3357; Zamakhshari, 4/542; Ibn Kathir, 8/154; Suyuti, 6/222-223.